BobLinneman

Not Seeking Company

A striking bird, this Northern Flicker makes his home in a cemetery in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and blends nicely into the dense woods. What is surprising a...
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A striking bird, this Northern Flicker makes his home in a cemetery in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and blends nicely into the dense woods. What is surprising about the flicker, when first encountered, is its size, a foot-long body easily and a wing span up to 18 inches or more, and the secondary feathers are rust-brown, unmistakable. Unlike its woodpecker brethren, the flicker does not store food in holes it bores in trees, but rather feeds on ants he finds from tree to tree with the slightly hooked beak. We visited several trees before I even snapped a frame, most unappreciative of temporary company. My first, a wonderful treat, had to work for it, but now i know where to look again.
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